The Gators followed the season-long script against the Lamecocks, showing signs of breaking out of a scoring funk, and yet not quite executing well enough to make it happen.  The playcalling seems to be loosening up, and more of the entire field is now being attacked, which is a promising sign.  But time is running out to make the key plays it requires to win an SEC championship.

The long TD to Cooper definitely set the tone early and took the crowd out of the game, and the entire offense looked as good as it has all season — until the 10 minute mark of the second quarter.  After forcing a turnover with a 17-7 lead and starting at midfield, the offense went flat, and wasted multiple opportunities provided by the defense to put the game away early.  Then Coach Meyer made a surprising call to go for a long FG instead of pinning Carolina down and letting the defense continue to dominate.  They then went on a TD drive to make the score 17-14 at the half — not exactly Meyer’s “Plan to Win” formula.

It was then a fight until the play of the game to start the 4th quarter, the tipped pass and interception return by Trattou that set up Florida with a short field to ice the game.  A great play all around, and excellent blocking by the defensive players.  The defense completely dominated the 4th quarter, as the Lamecocks could not figure out the Joker package and the various blitz packages thrown at them — great work by Coach Strong and the defensive staff.

The offense in general is actually improving.  Less predictability, more downfield passing, and the pass protection is getting better, but still has a ways to go.  The most interesting development was Xavier Nixon getting the start at LT, with Carl Johnson moving back to LG, where he is a natural, and can really help the interior running game take off.  If Nixon can play a serviceable game going forward, this move could be enough to push the Gators to a win against Alabama……but we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves, aren’t we?

This week is another glorified scrimmage, which is fine with me.  Get the rust knocked off of Brantley and the younger players.  Rest the starters and……wait for it……NO INJURIES!  Two big games coming up to close out the 2009 regular season, and it’s imperative to have the full complement of players ready for F$U and Alabama.

Prediction Florida 45        FIU 7

Vanderbilt Review / South Carolina Preview It was talent over execution or game plan, as the Gator offense took a step back to where it has been wallowing for over a month. So much for the hope that the game plan for each game forward would build on the success against Georgia. Back to the dive plays against a stacked box, shaky pass protection, and no downfield pass plays to the WRs. Does Steve Addazio really believe he’s playing possum with future opponents, or is he simply incapable of being both the OL coach and Offensive Coordinator? I know Coach Meyer is fiercely loyal to his assistants, but Coach A has failed this year to put a talented group of players consistently in position to be successful.

One again the defense was stellar, allowing only a FG. That’s now a total of 6 TDs allowed by the defense in 9 games. Yes, the Commodore offense is a level below most SEC opponents, but the performance of the defense has been consistently solid all year. Ryan Stamper filled in nicely for Brandon Spikes, who served his suspension for “giving Washaun Ealey the business”. The DL and secondary were never really challenged, but played hard and hustled to the ball. Carlos Dunlap is playing his best ball of the season, running many plays down from behind to make the tackle.

Another week, another distraction (or distractions), as Coach Meyer was fined $30,00 by the SEC for criticizing the referees for not calling a penalty on the late hit on Tebow by Georgia. What a joke — while *&%#! Lame Kiffen gets a “reprimand” for calling other coaches liars and criticizing recruits that don’t come to Tennessee.

For some reason, I’m more worried about the upcoming game with the Lamecocks than I normally would be. I’m sure part of it is the inconsistent play of the Gator offense this year, but I also wonder, now that the SEC Championship Game matchup is set, if Coach Meyer can keep the team focused on the next game only. He has done a fine job so far, but there remains work to be done..

South Carolina actually has shown signs of life this year in the passing game, and Stephen Garcia is a good runner who can keep plays alive. His biggest problem is still accuracy, though, and I hope that continues at least one more week. The USCe running game has tailed off, which should allow the Gators to get by with a 4-man line and drop the LBs into the intermediate zones and cover the seam route to the TE that they go to multiple times each game. The Florida cornerbacks will be outsized, but neither Alshon Jeffery or Freddie Brown have elite speed, so the safeties should be able to keep things in front of them and help over the middle.

The real mystery is what Gator offense shows up? Eric Norwood is going to be a matchup problem for both of the OTs, and Aaron Hernandez may need to block a little more than usual in the passing game. Of course, a strong inside running game and some actual read option plays on the edges can help negate Norwood’s aggressiveness somewhat. Normally I would say that the passing game should have success against an inexperienced Carolina secondary, but there is no consistency week-to-week. There is a lot of pressure on the Florida offense to finally make a statement against a good defense, and it’s getting late in the season to make it happen. Tebow can still play better, and his reads and decision-making have to speed up. He has help the ball too long much too often this year, and takes too many sacks. Some of this is attributed to Coach Meyer’s “Plan to Win”, which includes limiting turnovers, but I think Tim has played things a little too safe, and has not made the pass plays he did in 2007 and 2008.

Ultimately, I believe that despite the offensive struggles this year, there is simply too much talent and leadership throughout the lineup to allow a letdown now. It’s time to remind the Pariah that the Gators come first, no matter what. I’m hopeful for another beatdown similar to the past 2 years, but it’s “survive and advance” in 2009.

Prediction – Florida 27 South Carolina 17

 It was “get well” time for the Florida Gators, as they put together their most complete team effort this season in neutering the Puppies — again!  17 out of 20 now, as the “trail of tears” from Jacksonville back to Athens has become a well-worn route.  After 2 weeks of sloppy play, turnovers, poor play-calling, media scrutiny, and soul-searching, perhaps it’s time for this year’s team to finally start having fun again and put together a strong stretch run to Atlanta.
 
It was long-overdue to see the Gator offense finally break some keys by throwing more on 1st down, hitting the edges more instead of stubbornly running between the tackles into 8- and 9-man defenses, and taking shots to the end zone from outside the 20.  Georgia’s weakness at defensive end set up most of the offensive game plan, and the players executed it well.  Tebow looked more comfortable throwing the ball in rhythm downfield this game, and the O-Line showed some improvement in pass protection.  Riley Cooper continues to show what a great athlete he is, both with his great one-handed TD catch and his continued excellence in downfield blocking.  This needs to be more of the norm rather than the exception the rest of the season to establish momentum building up to the SEC Championship Game, which Florida has clinched a berth in.  Finally, how poetic that Tebow’s 50th rushing TD, the all-time mark in the SEC to break Herschel Walker’s record, came against the Puppies themselves.  Just one more dagger in their hearts as they sink further behind Florida.
 
The defense was solid again.  I was a little disappointed in the rushing yards allowed between the tackles, but Georgia did have 2 weeks to prepare, and shuffled their entire O-Line personnel around to their advantage in the running game,  However, the Gators had a distinct advantage with their pass rush, and it really showed in the second half as they got multiple sacks and 3 of their 4 interceptions — all from the LBs.  AJ Jones has really started to perform this year at a high level, and has to be the biggest surprise on defense this season.  It was nice to see Brandon Spikes getting close to 100% health, as he made his presence known with 11 tackles and the interception return for the final score of the game.  I was also surprised it took so long for the safeties to come up and start to take away the seam route to the TE and the 15-18 yard square-ins that were really the only pass plays Georgia had success with.  Once Major Wright laid the wood the AJ Green, though, that took him out of the game and essentially ended any consistent threat from the Puppies.
 
Vanderbilt is up next for the Gators.  Despite the step down in talent level from the opponent, there needs to be no let up in intensity and execution.  It’s getting closer to money time now, and a tough road game at South Carolina follows.  The Commodores have taken a step back from their performance the past few years, and simply do not have the depth or playmakers to stay with Florida for more than 1-2 quarters.  It will be interesting to see if Coach Addazio continues to mix things up on offense, or goes back into a shell somewhat and be painfully conservative to ensure a win.  I think it would serve the offense best to continue to build on the scheme used against Georgia in order to establish a consistent rhythm and more confidence in the passing game.
 
This staff is too good, and the players too mature and experienced, in order to have a real letdown this week.  The bigger prizes are starting to come into view, and it’s time to build some real momentum to finish the regular season and peak in Atlanta.
 
Florida 38        Vanderbilt 10

Survive and advance.  Unfortunately, given the terrible red-zone performance of the Gator offense this year, that’s the mantra the rest of the way, unless major changes occur.  There are serious rumblings out of Gainesville this week that some changes may actually start to happen, including perhaps Carl Johnson moving back to LG, and an entire re-think of red zone play calling.  The offensive staff is simply not giving the players the best chance to win, and that’s completely on them.

When you see Tim Tebow show that much frustration to Coach Meyer, and the lack of smiles and fun had by the team, than there is something seriously wrong.  I’m sure Tim is pressing, and the constant attention and sniping from everyone across the country has to wear on young kids like this.  Being a defending champion is tough — being the Florida Gators, with Tim Tebow and so many returning starters, has to be incredibly tough.  Just look at how poorly Arkansas played against Ole Miss — think they didn’t give the Gators their best shot?

There are no real complaints about the offensive performance between the 20s.  Chris Rainey was very solid, Aaron Hernandez is money, and Riley Cooper made some nice catches over the middle.  You have to make defenses pay if they are going to crowd the box and run blitz constantly.  The pass protection is still a major concern, though.  Mike Pouncey was beaten badly a few times, and Carl Johnson does not have the foot speed to handle speed rushers.  The loss of Matt Patchan really hurts at LT.

The Florida defense again led the way, allowing zero offensive touchdowns.  They did a great job in limiting the effectiveness of Dixon in the running game, meaning MSU had zero chance of any consistent success.  Dunlap and Cunningham seem to be ramping up the pass rush, and Terron Sanders is playing the best football of his career at DT.  Once again the LB corps handled the loss of Spikes almost seamlessly. 

Now it’s on to Jacksonville to play a desperate Georgia team.  The Puppies have beaten Florida the first 2 times the Gators were defending a National Championship, and have had a week off to prepare to try and save their season.

The Puppy offense has shown flashes of big-play ability all year.  AJ Green is the one true playmaker in their offense at WR, and commands attention anywhere.  Orson Charles has hit some big gains on the seam route at the TE position.  The real surprise is why their running game has struggled so much.  Even with the loss of Knowshon Moreno, they have talent at RB in Samuels, King, and Ealey.  The performance of their OL has been the main culprit, and their level of play has to improve dramatically to have any chance of scoring on the Gators.  Joe Cox can make plays, but only with time to throw and by scheme — he does not have the physical tools like Matt Stafford to make plays when things start to break down, and the hope is that the Florida defense breaks the entire Puppy offense — in two.

Georgia’s defense has been maligned since game one, and defensive coordinator Willie Martinez seems to be ‘Dead Coach Walking’ right now.  Little pass rush and poor DE play, spotty play from the LBs (except all-SEC performer Rennie Curran), and shockingly inconsistent play from their secondary, who made Tennessee’s Jonathan Crompton look like Peyton Manning 2 weeks ago.  They may be fired-up early against Florida, but a crushing running drive or an actual big pass play could shatter what little confidence they may have right away.

It’s been an interesting week in Gainesville getting ready for this big game.  I still have confidence that the staff will correct some things, and that the players realize that they have made some uncharacteristic mistakes, including Tebow.  Tim needs to throw more passes on-time, and take some swing passes earlier.  Plus, the main thing to correct is fumbling the ball — ball security is key in Coach Meyer’s Plan to Win, and he has to be dying inside after the past 2 weeks.  Even the special teams can improve.  The kickoff coverage has shown some cracks recently (partly due to poor kicks from Sturgis), and Brandon James is simply not himself.  I think the added responsibility of more offensive snaps is wearing him down some physically, as he doesn’t look nearly as explosive as past seasons.

Despite the extra week to prepare, a confidence-shaking loss like the one to the Vollies could be too much for Georgia to overcome.  The Puppies are hurting not just from last year’s beatdown at the hands of Florida, but from the recent collapses against LSU and Tennessee.  Yes, Florida’s offense is making even mediocre defenses look good right now, but I have to go with the matchups at QB (Tebow vs. Cox), defensive coordinator (Strong vs. Martinez), Head Coach (Meyer vs. Pricht), and Florida’s across-the-board superiority in talent level and leadership.  Maybe this week is when the Gators turn it on for a run to Atlanta.

Prediction – Florida 23        Georgia 20

Lipstick on a Pig